Writing Workshop
This week, we wrapped up our unit on realistic fiction. The children used the narrative checklist to evaluate their work and took a gallery walk through one another's favorite pieces. As the children walked through the gallery of student work they left behind notes that complimented the work they read. Finally, the students took the end-of-unit assessment.
The children also worked on grammar concepts this week. They learned about subjects and predicates and sorted sentences and phrases to show which were complete thoughts and which were incomplete thoughts. They also learned that simple sentences can be combined using conjunctions, or joining words. They did some practice activities about sentences on Seesaw that you probably saw this week.
Next week, the students will begin writing poetry.
Reading
We began a unit about poetry last week. The children have learned to look for the seven tips of good poetry as they read. The seven tips are: Poetry sometimes rhymes; has rhythm (keeps a beat); says things in new ways (metaphor, simile, alliteration, adjectives, adverbs); repeats important ideas; has shape; expresses feelings; and it ends on its best line. The students are becoming quite the experts on poetry, and have selected poems they will include in an anthology of poetry they are creating. They identified which of the seven tips they noticed in the poems they selected.
We finished our read aloud, The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, by Kate DiCamillo this week. The children thoroughly enjoyed this book and have been writing their thinking each day using thinking strips. They have been striving to think deeply about the story based on the the context and the author's craft. The children created a final project about the book that showed how the main character changed and grew throughout the story, what the lesson or theme of the story was, and/or explained what the character's journey really was in this book.
Math
We began working on Unit 6 last week, and we continued our study of measurement this week. This unit focuses on linear measurement using the United States customary measurement system of inches, feet, and yards as well as the metric system of centimeters, and meters.
We did the first investigation last week, which provided students with measuring experiences using nonstandard objects such as paper clips, shoes, popsicle sticks, and connecting cubes. Through this experience, the children discovered common units are necessary for comparing lengths. They created their own "Inch-Brick" measuring tool, and focused on measuring correctly. Students also discovered that individuals can come up with different measurements for the same object by measuring with different size units, measuring different dimensions of the object, or by making measurement errors, such as miscounting, having overlaps, or having gaps in their measurements.
This week, we are conducting the second investigation, and students were introduced to 12-inch rulers, yardsticks, and measuring tapes. They found body parts to represent benchmarks for one inch, six inches, and 12 inches. Ask your child to tell you his/her benchmarks. The students use their benchmarks to estimate the length of various objects, then they measure the object with the appropriate tool. Students also completed many story problems comparing the lengths of various objects. The children have also started using centimeters and meters to measure.
Science
We planned and conducted our last fair test about light, and we wrote a lab report for this test. The children discovered that light can be refracted, or appear to bend, when light travels through air compared to water. They saw that when light is refracted through a prism, they can see the spectrum, or colors of the rainbow. Ask your child to tell you about this! The students took the unit assessment last week.
Word Study
Last week and this week, the children reviewed rules for adding -ing suffixes onto words. They discovered short vowel words must end with two consonants before adding -ing. Sometimes, these words already end with two consonants and you do nothing to add -ing, such as picking, passing, thanking. Sometimes short vowel words end with only one consonant so you need to double the consonant before adding -ing, such as swimming, batting, running. Long vowel words that have vowel teams need nothing before adding -ing, such as meeting, mailing, floating. Long vowel words that end with e need the e dropped before adding -ing, such as taking, smiling, mining.
This week, some children looked at words that end with the soft g sound. If the word has a short vowel, the soft g is spelled -dge, such as judge, badge, ledge. If the word has a long vowel, it is spelled with the CVCe pattern, such as page, huge, cage. If you hear an l, n, or r before the ge, those letters should be written, such as bulge, large, range.
You should expect the rules for the word sorts we are working on now and through the end of the year to be challenging for most students. Please ask your child to tell you about his/her word study each week!
Earth Week
Last week the children enjoyed many activities related to Earth Week. They listened to a book read by a Renee Sichlau, a parent who represents the Green For Good committee. They watched a video about the damage plastic straws are causing in our environment, and they made posters urging people to "skip the straw!" We hope you'll see these posters around school during your next visit.
Social Studies New Theme: Citizenship
We began a new social studies theme last week about how our government is structured. We read our social studies book and watched some videos to support our learning. We discussed how voting allows citizens to choose their leaders, and the students had a mock election to choose a mascot for our class. There were several good candidates, and the Hedgehog won!
The are below was created by Naomi and Margaret!
This week, we wrapped up our unit on realistic fiction. The children used the narrative checklist to evaluate their work and took a gallery walk through one another's favorite pieces. As the children walked through the gallery of student work they left behind notes that complimented the work they read. Finally, the students took the end-of-unit assessment.
The children also worked on grammar concepts this week. They learned about subjects and predicates and sorted sentences and phrases to show which were complete thoughts and which were incomplete thoughts. They also learned that simple sentences can be combined using conjunctions, or joining words. They did some practice activities about sentences on Seesaw that you probably saw this week.
Next week, the students will begin writing poetry.
Reading
We began a unit about poetry last week. The children have learned to look for the seven tips of good poetry as they read. The seven tips are: Poetry sometimes rhymes; has rhythm (keeps a beat); says things in new ways (metaphor, simile, alliteration, adjectives, adverbs); repeats important ideas; has shape; expresses feelings; and it ends on its best line. The students are becoming quite the experts on poetry, and have selected poems they will include in an anthology of poetry they are creating. They identified which of the seven tips they noticed in the poems they selected.
We finished our read aloud, The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, by Kate DiCamillo this week. The children thoroughly enjoyed this book and have been writing their thinking each day using thinking strips. They have been striving to think deeply about the story based on the the context and the author's craft. The children created a final project about the book that showed how the main character changed and grew throughout the story, what the lesson or theme of the story was, and/or explained what the character's journey really was in this book.
Math
We began working on Unit 6 last week, and we continued our study of measurement this week. This unit focuses on linear measurement using the United States customary measurement system of inches, feet, and yards as well as the metric system of centimeters, and meters.
We did the first investigation last week, which provided students with measuring experiences using nonstandard objects such as paper clips, shoes, popsicle sticks, and connecting cubes. Through this experience, the children discovered common units are necessary for comparing lengths. They created their own "Inch-Brick" measuring tool, and focused on measuring correctly. Students also discovered that individuals can come up with different measurements for the same object by measuring with different size units, measuring different dimensions of the object, or by making measurement errors, such as miscounting, having overlaps, or having gaps in their measurements.
This week, we are conducting the second investigation, and students were introduced to 12-inch rulers, yardsticks, and measuring tapes. They found body parts to represent benchmarks for one inch, six inches, and 12 inches. Ask your child to tell you his/her benchmarks. The students use their benchmarks to estimate the length of various objects, then they measure the object with the appropriate tool. Students also completed many story problems comparing the lengths of various objects. The children have also started using centimeters and meters to measure.
Science
We planned and conducted our last fair test about light, and we wrote a lab report for this test. The children discovered that light can be refracted, or appear to bend, when light travels through air compared to water. They saw that when light is refracted through a prism, they can see the spectrum, or colors of the rainbow. Ask your child to tell you about this! The students took the unit assessment last week.
Word Study
Last week and this week, the children reviewed rules for adding -ing suffixes onto words. They discovered short vowel words must end with two consonants before adding -ing. Sometimes, these words already end with two consonants and you do nothing to add -ing, such as picking, passing, thanking. Sometimes short vowel words end with only one consonant so you need to double the consonant before adding -ing, such as swimming, batting, running. Long vowel words that have vowel teams need nothing before adding -ing, such as meeting, mailing, floating. Long vowel words that end with e need the e dropped before adding -ing, such as taking, smiling, mining.
This week, some children looked at words that end with the soft g sound. If the word has a short vowel, the soft g is spelled -dge, such as judge, badge, ledge. If the word has a long vowel, it is spelled with the CVCe pattern, such as page, huge, cage. If you hear an l, n, or r before the ge, those letters should be written, such as bulge, large, range.
You should expect the rules for the word sorts we are working on now and through the end of the year to be challenging for most students. Please ask your child to tell you about his/her word study each week!
Earth Week
Last week the children enjoyed many activities related to Earth Week. They listened to a book read by a Renee Sichlau, a parent who represents the Green For Good committee. They watched a video about the damage plastic straws are causing in our environment, and they made posters urging people to "skip the straw!" We hope you'll see these posters around school during your next visit.
Social Studies New Theme: Citizenship
We began a new social studies theme last week about how our government is structured. We read our social studies book and watched some videos to support our learning. We discussed how voting allows citizens to choose their leaders, and the students had a mock election to choose a mascot for our class. There were several good candidates, and the Hedgehog won!
The are below was created by Naomi and Margaret!